TSG Holiday: Friday

Pretty much the same routine, hound dogs awake me and The Southern Gentlemen, lounging until late morning, and then heading out for lunch. We went to a little place that was his East Coast favorite. Imagine that – Manhattan eats in The Lone Star State. It was over this meal that the $64,000 questions finally came flowing forth from his mouth. We were both bone sober. The questioning went much like the last time:
Are you dating anyone out here?
Any old flames still lit back home?
Do you want to get married again?
Do you want children? And I mean children that don’t have four legs.

And I answered flawlessly without fear or trepidation. woo hoo!

Then he started on his commentary about the fact that he doesn’t feel like he could ask a woman to leave her metropolitan city life to join him in the south. Furthermore, with his current travel schedule, The Southern Gentleman does not feel he could ask a woman to wait for him while he is gone on his long trips. I shared my insight on the travel portion – the only type of person who understands his work situation is someone who does (or has) traveled extensively for work as well. I used him and me as an example from our old assignment where we met. I would have to ponder how best to approach the ‘woman leave her world for the south’ question.

We went to the boot shop because I have wanted a pair. We shopped together and found the perfect pair. Then we picked out the perfect pearl button shirt for The Southern Gentleman. Shopping with him was so nice, so effortless. I purchased the shirt for him and told him to think of me when he wore it.

I asked him lots of deeper get-to-know more about him questions throughout the afternoon. Items like how his parents met, his extended family (particularly his family abroad), about his parents – things that go into who he is and much deeper than I have ever gone.

From there we went to pick up the food for the small evening get together. While we are not lock step, our gait is pretty damn good. I put the finishing touches on the house and got dressed as he readied his wares and got dressed himself. We looked so good – Barbie and Ken dolls good. He poured us a drink while waiting for my friends to come. All my friends arrived and it was fabulous to have a home filled with loving people and The Southern Gentleman by my side – it was nothing short of a longtime dream finally realized. Everyone who is important to me in SxSWland was there because they care about me. I felt so blessed. And that feeling of blessed meant I was consuming wine at a decent clip while ensuring everyone else’s glass was full too. My girls were super good about sharing their preference concerning The Southern Gentleman’s wares offerings.

The girls started to knit a bit and we gabbed while The Southern Gentleman amused himself with my iTunes. I had to laugh because my computer had password locked itself due to inactivity; he asked me to input the password and while doing so I had to stop myself from saying that he should know it because it is his name! He told us that our little ‘sewing group’ reminded him of his mother’s group. I couldn’t think of a higher compliment. The girls packed up so we could go out downtown. One of my friends, Redbud offered to drive us up, have a drink with us and then we’d cab it home.

Needless to say we hit three bars. Much alcohol consumed. One thing I do distinctly remember The Southern Gentleman saying was “my three kids.” I remember dancing with Redbud on the rooftop patio (thanks to photographic evidence, I also danced with The Southern Gentleman). At the final club, I remember a brief snippet of me straddling The Southern Gentleman as he sat on the loveseat. What I don’t remember is getting kicked out of a diner because I was asleep at the table and any of poor Redbud having to take us home and subsequently getting to bed.